Blue White Illustrated

FAVORITE Hunter Stieber, Ohio State DARK HORSE Bryan Pearsall, Penn State 149 Penn State���s Andrew Alton has been an enigma as a redshirt sophomore. He won 17 consecutive bouts to begin the season and was ranked third in the country, but since returning to the lineup following a onemonth suspension, he has struggled to regain his stride and watched his ranking slip to No. 12 by the end of the regular season. Alton has proven that he has bigmove pinning capability, but he will need to wrestle a full seven-minute match (or longer), if he���s to break into the All-America rounds. Be assured that Penn State will need him there for the team race. Oklahoma State���s Jordan Oliver has moved up 16 pounds after two consecutive 133-pound final appearances and is the clear-cut favorite in this weight class after going 25-0 in the regular season. Though Minnesota���s Dylan Ness has been inconsistent, finishing the regular season ranked No. 6, he won Big Tens and reached the NCAA final a year ago. He certainly wants to make a return trip. FAVORITE Jordan Oliver, Oklahoma State DARK HORSE Scott Sakaguchi, Oregon State 157 Similar to his brother, Penn State���s Dylan Alton has seen his share of struggles since returning from the one-month suspension that they both were forced to serve. He finished sixth at the Big Ten tournament. Alton, however, made a phenomenal run to finish third at NCAAs last year, so he clearly has the potential to get back on track in Des Moines. But a rematch with Iowa���s Derek St. John, who holds a 4-0 career advantage and served Alton his only loss at last year���s NCAA tournament, is imminent. Alton must also get past Northwestern senior and Big Ten champion Jason Welch, Lehigh���s Joey Napoli and Clarion���s James Fleming. He defeated Welch in the third-place match last season but fell to Napoli and Fleming early this season. This could be one of the more entertaining weight classes of the tournament. FAVORITE Derek St. John, Iowa DARK HORSE Kyle Bradley, Missouri 165 For obvious reasons, this weight class alone will be worth the price of admission. As soon as Cornell���s Kyle Dake made the announcement that he was moving up to 165 ��� with hopes of becoming the first college wrestler to win four national titles at four weight classes ��� wrestling aficionados have been impatiently waiting for a matchup between Dake and Penn State���s David Taylor. If either one gets upset before the championship round, it might send the entire city of Des Moines into a tailspin. Dake previously defeated Taylor at the Olympic freestyle wrestling trials in April, the NWCA All-Star Classic in November and at the Southern Scuffle in January. Does Taylor end the streak and prevent Dake from making wrestling history? That���s been his sole focus since that January loss, but history gives Dake the edge. FAVORITE Kyle Dake, Cornell DARK HORSE Steven Monk, North Dakota State 174 Without a doubt, this is the tournament���s most wide-open weight class. Any of the top eight wrestlers ��� Minnesota���s Logan Storely, Oklahoma State���s Chris Perry, Iowa���s Mike Evans, Nebraska���s Robert Kokesh, Maryland���s Josh Asper, Ohio State���s Nick Heflin, Penn State���s Matt Brown and Illinois��� Jordan Blanton ��� could end up on the final stage. The six from the Big Ten have all defeated each other at least once this season, and Storley scored a defensive pin against Perry in February. All seek their first appearance in a NCAA final. Brown fell to Storley, Evans, Kokesh and Heflin during the second half of the season, but he won the Big Ten tournament crown. Brown is peaking at the perfect time to earn his first All-America honor. FAVORITE Chris Perry, Oklahoma State DARK HORSE Blake Stauffer, Arizona State 184 Penn State���s Ed Ruth is riding a 63-match winning streak that dates back to his freshman season. And truthfully, there doesn���t appear to be a 184-pounder who can snap it. He defeated Cornell���s Steve Bosak, the returning NCAA champ, 7-3, in January, and Minnesota���s Kevin Steinhaus, 5-3, in the Big Ten final. Arguably his biggest challenge came from Lehigh���s Robert Hamlin during the first bout of the season. Ruth held on for an 11-9 victory and that very well could have been a preview of the NCAA final. Also look out for secondranked Ben Bennett of Central Michigan. He hasn���t wrestled Ruth yet, but he could match up well against the redshirt junior. FAVORITE Ed Ruth, Penn State DARK HORSE Ryan Loder, Northern Iowa 197 After two consecutive appearances in the 184-pound final, Penn State���s Quentin Wright made the jump to 197 for his final campaign and has yet to lose a match. For the first time in his five-year career, he completed a regular season undefeated. And in past years, he did his most impressive wrestling in the postseason, so is the best yet to come? Maybe so. Standing in the way of his second national title, however, is Dustin Kilgore. The Kent State standout has sat atop the rankings for the entire season, and according to the NCAA, he was the nation���s second-most-dominant pound-for-pound wrestler in the regular season. Kilgore won the 197pound title in 2011 but took an Olympic redshirt a season ago.

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